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The Wiz (film)
Encyclopedia
The Wiz is a 1978 musical film
produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures
, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical of the same name
. The film follows the adventures of Dorothy
, a shy Harlem
, New York
schoolteacher who finds herself magically transported to the Land of Oz, which resembles a fantasy version of New York City
. Befriended by a Scarecrow
, a Tin Man
, and a Cowardly Lion
, she travels through the land to seek an audience with the mysterious "Wiz
", who they say has the power to take her home.
Produced by Rob Cohen
and directed by Sidney Lumet
, The Wiz stars Diana Ross
, Michael Jackson
, Nipsey Russell
, Ted Ross
, Mabel King
, Theresa Merritt
, Thelma Carpenter
, Lena Horne
, and Richard Pryor
. The film's story was reworked from William F. Brown's Broadway libretto
by Joel Schumacher
, and Quincy Jones
supervised the adaptation of Charlie Smalls
and Luther Vandross
's songs for film. A handful of new songs, written by Jones and the songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, were added for the film version. Upon its original theatrical release, The Wiz was a critical and commercial failure, and marked the end of the resurgence of African-American films that began with the blaxploitation
movement of the 1970s. The film received four Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction
, Best Costume Design
, Best Original Music Score
and Best Cinematography
.
dinner brings a host of family together in a Harlem apartment, where a 24-year-old schoolteacher named Dorothy Gale
(Diana Ross
) lives with her Aunt Em
(Theresa Merritt
) and Uncle Henry
(Stanley Greene
). Extremely introverted, she has, as Aunt Em teases her, "never been south of 125th Street
", and refuses to move out and on with her life.
While Dorothy cleans up after the meal, her dog Toto
runs out the open kitchen door into a violent snowstorm. She succeeds in retrieving him, but finds herself trapped in the storm. A magical whirlwindthe work of Glinda
the Good Witch (Lena Horne
)materializes and transports them to the Land of Oz. Upon her arrival, Dorothy smashes through an electric "Oz" sign, which falls upon and kills Evermean, the Wicked Witch of the East
. As a result, she frees the Munchkin
s who populate the park into which she lands; they had been transformed by Evermean into graffiti
for "tagging" the park walls.
Dorothy soon meets the Munchkins' main benefactress, Miss One, the Good Witch of the North
(Thelma Carpenter
), a magical "numbers runner
" who gives Evermean's powerful silver slippers
to her. However, she desperately wants to get home. Miss One urges her to follow the yellow brick road
to the Emerald City
and find the mysterious "Wizard
" who she believes holds the power to send Dorothy back to Harlem. The good witch and the Munchkins then disappear and she is left to search for the yellow brick road on her own.
The next morning, Dorothy happens upon a Scarecrow
(Michael Jackson
) made of garbage, whom she befriends. The two of them discover the yellow brick road and happily begin to follow it together; the Scarecrow hoping the Wizard might be able to give him the one thing he feels that he lacks — a brain. Along the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy, Toto, and the Scarecrow meet the Tin Man
(Nipsey Russell
), a turn-of-the-century amusement park
mechanical man, and the Cowardly Lion
(Ted Ross
), a vain dandy banished from the jungle who hid inside one of the stone lions in front of the New York Public Library
. The Tin Man and Lion join them on their quest to find the Wizard, hoping to gain a heart and courage, respectively. Before the five adventurers reach the Emerald City, they must face obstacles such as a crazy subway peddler (a homeless man) with evil puppets in his control and the "Poppy" Girls (a reference to the poppy field from the original story), prostitutes who attempt to put Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion to sleep with magic dusting powder.
Finally reaching the Emerald City (an analogue of the real-life World Trade Center
plaza), the quintet gains passage into the city because of Dorothy's ownership of the silver shoes and marvel at the spectacle of the city and its dancers. They gain an audience with the Wizard (Richard Pryor
), who appears to them as a giant fire-breathing metallic head. He will only grant their wishes if they kill Evillene (Mabel King
), the Wicked Witch of the West
, who runs a sweatshop
in the sewers of New York City. She learns of their quest to kill her and sends out the Flying Monkeys
(a motorcycle gang) to kidnap them.
After an extended chase, the Flying Monkeys succeed in capturing their prey and bring them back to Evillene. She dismembers the Scarecrow, flattens the Tin Man, and tortures the Lion in hopes of making Dorothy give her the silver shoes. When she threatens to throw Toto into a fiery cauldron, Dorothy nearly gives in until the Scarecrow hints to her to activate a fire sprinkler
switch which she does. The sprinklers put out the fire but also melt and destroy Evillene who is "allergic to water". With her gone, her spells lose their power: the Winkies
are freed from their costumes (revealing humans underneath) and their sweatshop tools disappear. They rejoice in dance and praise Dorothy as their emancipator and the Flying Monkeys give her and her friends a triumphant ride back to the Emerald City.
Upon arriving back at the Emerald City, the quartet takes a back door into the Wizard's quarters and discovers that he is a "phony". The "great and powerful Oz" is actually Herman Smith, a failed politician from Atlantic City, New Jersey
, who was transported to Oz when a balloon he was flying to promote his campaign to become the city dogcatcher was lost in a storm. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are distraught that they will never receive their respective brain, heart, and courage, but Dorothy makes them realize that they already have these things. Just as it seems as if she will never be able to get home, Glinda
, the Good Witch of the South, appears and implores her to find her way home by searching within and using her silver shoes. After thanking Glinda and saying goodbye to her friends, she takes Toto in her arms, thinks of home and the things she loves most about it and, after clicking her heels three times, finds herself back in her neighborhood. She, now a changed woman, carries Toto back to their apartment and closes the door.
All songs written by Charlie Smalls, unless otherwise noted.
, the film/TV division of Berry Gordy
's Motown Records
label. Gordy originally wanted the teenaged future R&B singer Stephanie Mills
, who had originated the role on Broadway, to be cast as Dorothy. When Motown star Diana Ross
asked Gordy if she could be cast as Dorothy, he declined, saying that Ross, then thirty-three years old, was too old for the role. Ross went around Gordy and convinced executive producer Rob Cohen
at Universal Pictures
to arrange a deal where he would produce the film if Ross was cast as Dorothy. Gordy and Cohen agreed to the deal. Pauline Kael, a film critic, described Ross's efforts to get the film into production as "perhaps the strongest example of sheer will in film history."
After film director John Badham
learned that Ross was going to play the part of Dorothy, he decided not to direct the film, and Cohen replaced him with Sidney Lumet
. Of his decision not to direct The Wiz, John Badham recalled telling Cohen that he thought Ross was "a wonderful singer. She's a terrific actress and a great dancer, but she's not this character. She's not the little six-year-old girl Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz." Though 20th Century Fox
had financially backed the stage musical
, they ended up exercising their first refusal rights
to the film production, which gave Universal an opening to finance the film. Initially, Universal was so excited about the film's prospects that they did not set a budget for production.
Joel Schumacher
's script for The Wiz was influenced by Werner Erhard
's teachings and his Erhard Seminars Training
("est") movement, as both Schumacher and Diana Ross were "very enamored of Werner Erhard." "Before I knew it," said Rob Cohen, "the movie was becoming an est-ian fable full of est buzzwords about knowing who you are and sharing and all that. I hated the script a lot. But it was hard to argue with [Ross] because she was recognizing in this script all of this stuff that she had worked out in est seminars." Schumacher spoke positively of the results of the est training, stating that he would always be "eternally grateful for learning that I was responsible for my life." However, he also complained that "everybody stayed exactly the way they were and went around spouting all this bullshit." Of est and Erhard references in the film itself, The Grove Book of Hollywood notes that the speech delivered by Glinda the Good Witch at the end of the film was "a litany of est-like platitudes," and the book also makes est comparisons to the song "Believe in Yourself."
During production, Lumet felt that the finished film would be "an absolutely unique experience that nobody has ever witnessed before." When asked about any possible influence from MGM's popular 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
, Lumet stated that "there was nothing to be gained from [the 1939 film] other than to make certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different - they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different - we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area."
Michael Jackson
, a former Motown star who by the start of development on The Wiz in 1977, had left Motown for Epic Records
with his brothers The Jacksons
, was cast as the Scarecrow. Jackson was dedicated to the role, and watched videotapes of gazelle
s, cheetah
s and panther
s in order to learn graceful movements for his part. Ted Ross
and Mabel King
were brought in to reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, while Nipsey Russell
was cast as the Tin Man
. Lena Horne
, mother-in-law to Sidney Lumet during the time of production, was cast as Glinda the Good Witch, and comedian Richard Pryor
portrayed The Wiz.
in Queens, New York. The decaying New York State Pavilion from the 1964 New York World's Fair
was used as the set for Munchkinland, while the World Trade Center
served as the Emerald City. The scenes filmed at the Emerald City were elaborate, utilizing six hundred fifty dancers, three hundred eighty-five crew members and twelve hundred costumes. Costume designer Tony Walton
enlisted the help of high fashion designers in New York City for the Emerald City sequence, and obtained exotic costumes and fabric from designers such as Oscar de la Renta
and Norma Kamali. Albert Whitlock
created the film's visual special effects, while Stan Winston
served as the head makeup artist.
Quincy Jones
was the musical supervisor and music producer for the film. He later wrote that he initially did not want to work on the film, but did it as a favor to Sidney Lumet. The film production marked Jones' first time working with Michael Jackson, and Jones would later produce three hit albums for Jackson: Off the Wall
, Thriller
, and Bad
. Jones recalled working with Jackson as one of his favorite experiences from The Wiz, and spoke of Jackson's dedication to his role, comparing his acting style to Sammy Davis, Jr.
for over $10 million, in the end, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal. At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made. The film's failure steered Hollywood studios away from producing the all-black film projects which had become popular during the blaxploitation
era of the early-to-mid 1970s for several years.
The film has been available on VHS
home video
since the 1980s, and is periodically broadcast on television
, often on Thanksgiving Day
. The film was released on DVD in 1999; a remaster
ed version entitled The Wiz: 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2008. Extras on both DVD releases include a 1978 featurette about the film's production and the original theatrical trailer
.
, who played the Scarecrow
in the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film, did not think highly of The Wiz, stating, "The Wiz is overblown and will never have the universal appeal [the 1939 film] has obtained."
Michael Jackson
's performance as the Scarecrow was one of the only positively reviewed elements of the film, with critics noting that Jackson possessed "genuine acting talent" and "provided the only genuinely memorable moments." Of the results of the film, Jackson stated: "I don't think it could have been any better, I really don't." In 1980, Jackson stated that his time working on The Wiz was "my greatest experience so far . . . I'll never forget that." The film received a positive critique for its elaborate set design, and the book American Jewish Filmmakers noted that it "features some of the most imaginative adaptations of New York locales since the glory days of the Astaire-Rogers films." In a 2004 review of the film, Christopher Null
wrote positively of Ted Ross and Richard Pryor's performances. However, Null's overall review of the film was critical, and he wrote that other than the song "Ease on Down the Road," "the rest is an acid trip of bad dancing, garish sets, and a Joel Schumacher-scripted mess that runs 135 agonizing minutes." A 2005 piece by Hank Stuever in The Washington Post
described the film as "a rather appreciable delight, even when it's a mess," and felt that the singing - especially Diana Ross' - was "a marvel".
The New York Times
analyzed the film within a discussion of the genre of blaxploitation
: "As the audience for blaxploitation dwindled, it seemed as if "Car Wash" and "The Wiz" might be the last gasp of what had been a steadily expanding black presence in mainstream filmmaking." The St. Petersburg Times
noted, "Of course, it only took one flop like The Wiz (1978) to give Hollywood an excuse to retreat to safer (i.e., whiter) creative ground until John Singleton and Spike Lee came along. Yet, without blaxploitation there might not have been another generation of black filmmakers, no Denzel Washington or Angela Bassett, or they might have taken longer to emerge." The Boston Globe
commented, "the term 'black film' should be struck from the critical vocabulary. To appreciate just how outmoded, deceptive and limiting it is, consider the following, all of which have been described as black films, . . ." and characterized The Wiz in a list which also featured 1970s films Shaft
, Blacula
, and Super Fly.
The Wiz was nominated for four Academy Awards
: Best Art Direction
(Tony Walton
, Philip Rosenberg
, Edward Stewart
, Robert Drumheller
), Best Costume Design
, Best Original Music Score
and Best Cinematography
, although it did not win in any of those categories.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical of the same name
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
. The film follows the adventures of Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
, a shy Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
schoolteacher who finds herself magically transported to the Land of Oz, which resembles a fantasy version of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Befriended by a Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
, a Tin Man
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
, and a Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
, she travels through the land to seek an audience with the mysterious "Wiz
Wizard (Oz)
The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
", who they say has the power to take her home.
Produced by Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
and directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, The Wiz stars Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
, Ted Ross
Ted Ross
Ted Ross was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz, an all-African American reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production, and went on to recreate the role in the 1978 film version which also starred...
, Mabel King
Mabel King
Mabel King was an American film, stage and television actress.-Early life and career:King was born Donnie Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington. She was raised in Harlem where she eventually became a gospel and nightclub singer...
, Theresa Merritt
Theresa Merritt
Theresa Merritt Hines was an American stage, film and television actress and singer.-Career:Born in Emporia, Virginia, Merritt appeared in many theatrical productions but gained fame later in life when she starred in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Wiz Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24,...
, Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter was a jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.-Career:...
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, and Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
. The film's story was reworked from William F. Brown's Broadway libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
, and Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
supervised the adaptation of Charlie Smalls
Charlie Smalls
Charlie Smalls was an African-American composer and songwriter, best known for writing the music for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz....
and Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
's songs for film. A handful of new songs, written by Jones and the songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, were added for the film version. Upon its original theatrical release, The Wiz was a critical and commercial failure, and marked the end of the resurgence of African-American films that began with the blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
movement of the 1970s. The film received four Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
, Best Costume Design
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
, Best Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
.
Plot
A ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
dinner brings a host of family together in a Harlem apartment, where a 24-year-old schoolteacher named Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
(Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
) lives with her Aunt Em
Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
(Theresa Merritt
Theresa Merritt
Theresa Merritt Hines was an American stage, film and television actress and singer.-Career:Born in Emporia, Virginia, Merritt appeared in many theatrical productions but gained fame later in life when she starred in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Wiz Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24,...
) and Uncle Henry
Uncle Henry (Oz)
Uncle Henry is a fictional character from The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum. He is the uncle of orphan Dorothy Gale and husband of Aunt Em, and lived with them on a farm in Kansas.-Oz Books:...
(Stanley Greene
Stanley Greene
Stanley Greene is a photojournalist.Greene was born to middle class parents in Harlem. Both his parents were actors. His father was a union organizer, one of the first African Americans elected as an officer in the Screen Actors Guild, and belonged to the Harlem Renaissance movement...
). Extremely introverted, she has, as Aunt Em teases her, "never been south of 125th Street
125th Street (Manhattan)
125th Street is a two-way street that runs east-west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, considered the "Main Street" of Harlem; It is also called Martin Luther King, Jr...
", and refuses to move out and on with her life.
While Dorothy cleans up after the meal, her dog Toto
Toto (dog)
Toto is the name of a fictional dog in L. Frank Baum's Oz series of children's books, and works derived from them. The name is pronounced with a long "O", a homonym of "toe toe". The dog was originally a cairn terrier drawn by W.W. Denslow for the first edition of the Wizard of Oz...
runs out the open kitchen door into a violent snowstorm. She succeeds in retrieving him, but finds herself trapped in the storm. A magical whirlwindthe work of Glinda
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
the Good Witch (Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
)materializes and transports them to the Land of Oz. Upon her arrival, Dorothy smashes through an electric "Oz" sign, which falls upon and kills Evermean, the Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
. As a result, she frees the Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
s who populate the park into which she lands; they had been transformed by Evermean into graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
for "tagging" the park walls.
Dorothy soon meets the Munchkins' main benefactress, Miss One, the Good Witch of the North
Good Witch of the North
The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country...
(Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter was a jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.-Career:...
), a magical "numbers runner
Numbers game
Numbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
" who gives Evermean's powerful silver slippers
Silver Shoes
The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale's transport home. They were originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house landed on the Witch...
to her. However, she desperately wants to get home. Miss One urges her to follow the yellow brick road
Yellow brick road
The road of yellow brick is an element in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with additional such roads appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz...
to the Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
and find the mysterious "Wizard
Wizard (Oz)
The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
" who she believes holds the power to send Dorothy back to Harlem. The good witch and the Munchkins then disappear and she is left to search for the yellow brick road on her own.
The next morning, Dorothy happens upon a Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
(Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
) made of garbage, whom she befriends. The two of them discover the yellow brick road and happily begin to follow it together; the Scarecrow hoping the Wizard might be able to give him the one thing he feels that he lacks — a brain. Along the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy, Toto, and the Scarecrow meet the Tin Man
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
(Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
), a turn-of-the-century amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
mechanical man, and the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
(Ted Ross
Ted Ross
Ted Ross was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz, an all-African American reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production, and went on to recreate the role in the 1978 film version which also starred...
), a vain dandy banished from the jungle who hid inside one of the stone lions in front of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
. The Tin Man and Lion join them on their quest to find the Wizard, hoping to gain a heart and courage, respectively. Before the five adventurers reach the Emerald City, they must face obstacles such as a crazy subway peddler (a homeless man) with evil puppets in his control and the "Poppy" Girls (a reference to the poppy field from the original story), prostitutes who attempt to put Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion to sleep with magic dusting powder.
Finally reaching the Emerald City (an analogue of the real-life World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
plaza), the quintet gains passage into the city because of Dorothy's ownership of the silver shoes and marvel at the spectacle of the city and its dancers. They gain an audience with the Wizard (Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
), who appears to them as a giant fire-breathing metallic head. He will only grant their wishes if they kill Evillene (Mabel King
Mabel King
Mabel King was an American film, stage and television actress.-Early life and career:King was born Donnie Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington. She was raised in Harlem where she eventually became a gospel and nightclub singer...
), the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, who runs a sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
in the sewers of New York City. She learns of their quest to kill her and sends out the Flying Monkeys
Winged monkeys
Winged monkeys are characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, of enough impact between the books and the 1939 movie to have taken their own place in popular culture, regularly referenced in comedic or ironic situations as a source of evil or fear.-Details:In the original Oz novels, these were...
(a motorcycle gang) to kidnap them.
After an extended chase, the Flying Monkeys succeed in capturing their prey and bring them back to Evillene. She dismembers the Scarecrow, flattens the Tin Man, and tortures the Lion in hopes of making Dorothy give her the silver shoes. When she threatens to throw Toto into a fiery cauldron, Dorothy nearly gives in until the Scarecrow hints to her to activate a fire sprinkler
Fire sprinkler
A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection measure, consisting of a water supply system, providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, onto which fire sprinklers are connected...
switch which she does. The sprinklers put out the fire but also melt and destroy Evillene who is "allergic to water". With her gone, her spells lose their power: the Winkies
Winkie Country
The Winkie Country is a division of the fictional Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color yellow; this color is worn by most of the local inhabitants and predominates in the surroundings....
are freed from their costumes (revealing humans underneath) and their sweatshop tools disappear. They rejoice in dance and praise Dorothy as their emancipator and the Flying Monkeys give her and her friends a triumphant ride back to the Emerald City.
Upon arriving back at the Emerald City, the quartet takes a back door into the Wizard's quarters and discovers that he is a "phony". The "great and powerful Oz" is actually Herman Smith, a failed politician from Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
, who was transported to Oz when a balloon he was flying to promote his campaign to become the city dogcatcher was lost in a storm. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are distraught that they will never receive their respective brain, heart, and courage, but Dorothy makes them realize that they already have these things. Just as it seems as if she will never be able to get home, Glinda
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, the Good Witch of the South, appears and implores her to find her way home by searching within and using her silver shoes. After thanking Glinda and saying goodbye to her friends, she takes Toto in her arms, thinks of home and the things she loves most about it and, after clicking her heels three times, finds herself back in her neighborhood. She, now a changed woman, carries Toto back to their apartment and closes the door.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Diana Ross Diana Ross Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway... |
Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels... |
| Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records... |
Scarecrow Scarecrow (Oz) The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely... |
| Lena Horne Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the... |
Glinda the Good Witch of the South |
| Ted Ross Ted Ross Ted Ross was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz, an all-African American reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production, and went on to recreate the role in the 1978 film version which also starred... |
Cowardly Lion Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans.... |
| Nipsey Russell Nipsey Russell Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid... |
Tin Man Tin Woodman The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum... |
| Thelma Carpenter Thelma Carpenter Thelma Carpenter was a jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.-Career:... |
Miss One, the Good Witch of the North Good Witch of the North The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country... |
| Theresa Merritt Theresa Merritt Theresa Merritt Hines was an American stage, film and television actress and singer.-Career:Born in Emporia, Virginia, Merritt appeared in many theatrical productions but gained fame later in life when she starred in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Wiz Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24,... |
Aunt Em Aunt Em Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas... |
| Stanley Greene Stanley Greene Stanley Greene is a photojournalist.Greene was born to middle class parents in Harlem. Both his parents were actors. His father was a union organizer, one of the first African Americans elected as an officer in the Screen Actors Guild, and belonged to the Harlem Renaissance movement... |
Uncle Henry |
| Richard Pryor Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets... |
The Wizard Wizard (Oz) The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L... /Herman Smith |
| Mabel King Mabel King Mabel King was an American film, stage and television actress.-Early life and career:King was born Donnie Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington. She was raised in Harlem where she eventually became a gospel and nightclub singer... |
Evilene, the Wicked Witch of the West Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz... |
Songs
- "Overture Part I" (instrumental)
- "Overture Part II" (instrumental)
- "The Feeling That We Had" - Aunt Emma and Chorus
- "Can I Go On?" (Quincy JonesQuincy JonesQuincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie SimpsonAshford & SimpsonNickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
) - Dorothy - "Tornado"/"Glinda's Theme" (instrumental)
- "He's the Wizard" - Miss One and Chorus
- "Soon As I Get Home"/"Home" - Dorothy
- "You Can't WinYou Can't Win (song)"You Can't Win" is an R&B, pop and soul song performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson in the 1978 musical film The Wiz. The song was written by composer Charlie Smalls specifically for Jackson's role as Scarecrow in the movie, a retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that featured an...
, You Can't Break Even" - Scarecrow and The Four Crows - "Ease On Down the RoadEase on Down the Road"Ease on Down the Road" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, performed in the original production by Stephanie Mills and Hinton Battle...
#1" - Dorothy and Scarecrow - "What Would I Do If I Could Feel?" - Tin Man
- "Slide Some Oil to Me" - Tin Man
- "Ease On Down the Road #2" - Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man
- "I'm a Mean Ole Lion" - Cowardly Lion
- "Ease On Down the Road #3" - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion
- "Poppy Girls Theme" (Anthony Jackson) (instrumental)
- "Be a Lion" - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion
- "End Of The Yellow Brick Road" (instrumental)
- "Emerald City Sequence" (music: Jones, lyrics: Smalls) - Chorus
- "Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)" (music: Jones, lyrics: Ashford & Simpson) - Dorothy (vocal version not used in film)
- "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" - Evillene and the Winkies
- "Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New DayA Brand New Day (The Wiz song)"A Brand New Day" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz written by Luther Vandross. The song is about African Americans finally achieving the freedom they had been waiting and hoping for. It was later featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members Diana Ross, Michael Jackson,...
" (Luther VandrossLuther VandrossLuther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
) - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Chorus - "Believe in Yourself (Dorothy)" - Dorothy
- "The Good Witch Glinda" (instrumental)
- "Believe in Yourself (Reprise)" - Glinda the Good Witch
- "HomeHome (The Wiz song)"Home" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical, The Wiz. The song was performed by Stephanie Mills in the stage production and by Diana Ross in the 1978 film adaptation and released on the soundtrack album in 1978....
(Finale)" - Dorothy
Pre-production and development
The Wiz was the eighth feature film produced by Motown ProductionsDe Passe Entertainment
de Passe Entertainment is an American film and television production company run by entertainment executive Suzanne de Passe. The company was originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., in 1968, as Motown Productions, the film and television arm of Gordy's Motown Records label.-History:Motown...
, the film/TV division of Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
's Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
label. Gordy originally wanted the teenaged future R&B singer Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...
, who had originated the role on Broadway, to be cast as Dorothy. When Motown star Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
asked Gordy if she could be cast as Dorothy, he declined, saying that Ross, then thirty-three years old, was too old for the role. Ross went around Gordy and convinced executive producer Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
at Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
to arrange a deal where he would produce the film if Ross was cast as Dorothy. Gordy and Cohen agreed to the deal. Pauline Kael, a film critic, described Ross's efforts to get the film into production as "perhaps the strongest example of sheer will in film history."
After film director John Badham
John Badham
- External links :...
learned that Ross was going to play the part of Dorothy, he decided not to direct the film, and Cohen replaced him with Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
. Of his decision not to direct The Wiz, John Badham recalled telling Cohen that he thought Ross was "a wonderful singer. She's a terrific actress and a great dancer, but she's not this character. She's not the little six-year-old girl Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz." Though 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
had financially backed the stage musical
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
, they ended up exercising their first refusal rights
Right of first refusal
Right of first refusal is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transaction with a third party...
to the film production, which gave Universal an opening to finance the film. Initially, Universal was so excited about the film's prospects that they did not set a budget for production.
Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
's script for The Wiz was influenced by Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard is an author of transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations...
's teachings and his Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
("est") movement, as both Schumacher and Diana Ross were "very enamored of Werner Erhard." "Before I knew it," said Rob Cohen, "the movie was becoming an est-ian fable full of est buzzwords about knowing who you are and sharing and all that. I hated the script a lot. But it was hard to argue with [Ross] because she was recognizing in this script all of this stuff that she had worked out in est seminars." Schumacher spoke positively of the results of the est training, stating that he would always be "eternally grateful for learning that I was responsible for my life." However, he also complained that "everybody stayed exactly the way they were and went around spouting all this bullshit." Of est and Erhard references in the film itself, The Grove Book of Hollywood notes that the speech delivered by Glinda the Good Witch at the end of the film was "a litany of est-like platitudes," and the book also makes est comparisons to the song "Believe in Yourself."
During production, Lumet felt that the finished film would be "an absolutely unique experience that nobody has ever witnessed before." When asked about any possible influence from MGM's popular 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, Lumet stated that "there was nothing to be gained from [the 1939 film] other than to make certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different - they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different - we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area."
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, a former Motown star who by the start of development on The Wiz in 1977, had left Motown for Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
with his brothers The Jacksons
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
, was cast as the Scarecrow. Jackson was dedicated to the role, and watched videotapes of gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
s, cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
s and panther
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s in order to learn graceful movements for his part. Ted Ross
Ted Ross
Ted Ross was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz, an all-African American reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production, and went on to recreate the role in the 1978 film version which also starred...
and Mabel King
Mabel King
Mabel King was an American film, stage and television actress.-Early life and career:King was born Donnie Mabel Elizabeth Washington in Charleston, South Carolina, the daughter of Rosalie Washington. She was raised in Harlem where she eventually became a gospel and nightclub singer...
were brought in to reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, while Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
was cast as the Tin Man
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
. Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, mother-in-law to Sidney Lumet during the time of production, was cast as Glinda the Good Witch, and comedian Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
portrayed The Wiz.
Principal photography
The Wiz was filmed at Astoria StudiosKaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...
in Queens, New York. The decaying New York State Pavilion from the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
was used as the set for Munchkinland, while the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
served as the Emerald City. The scenes filmed at the Emerald City were elaborate, utilizing six hundred fifty dancers, three hundred eighty-five crew members and twelve hundred costumes. Costume designer Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...
enlisted the help of high fashion designers in New York City for the Emerald City sequence, and obtained exotic costumes and fabric from designers such as Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
and Norma Kamali. Albert Whitlock
Albert Whitlock
Albert J. Whitlock was a British-born motion picture matte artist best known for his work with Disney and Universal Studios.-Life and career:...
created the film's visual special effects, while Stan Winston
Stan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
served as the head makeup artist.
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
was the musical supervisor and music producer for the film. He later wrote that he initially did not want to work on the film, but did it as a favor to Sidney Lumet. The film production marked Jones' first time working with Michael Jackson, and Jones would later produce three hit albums for Jackson: Off the Wall
Off the Wall (album)
Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson, released August 10, 1979 on Epic Records, after Jackson's critically well received film performance in The Wiz. While working on that project, Jackson and Quincy Jones had become friends, and Jones agreed to...
, Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
, and Bad
Bad (album)
Bad is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album...
. Jones recalled working with Jackson as one of his favorite experiences from The Wiz, and spoke of Jackson's dedication to his role, comparing his acting style to Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
Commercial reaction
The Wiz proved to be a commercial flop, as the $24 million production only earned $13.6 million at the box office. Though prerelease TV broadcast rights had been sold to CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for over $10 million, in the end, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal. At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made. The film's failure steered Hollywood studios away from producing the all-black film projects which had become popular during the blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
era of the early-to-mid 1970s for several years.
The film has been available on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
since the 1980s, and is periodically broadcast on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, often on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
. The film was released on DVD in 1999; a remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed version entitled The Wiz: 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2008. Extras on both DVD releases include a 1978 featurette about the film's production and the original theatrical trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
.
Critical reception
Critics panned The Wiz upon its October 1978 release. Many reviewers directed their criticism at Diana Ross, who they believed was too old to play Dorothy. Most agreed that what had worked so successfully on stage simply didn't translate well to the screen. Hischak's Through the Screen Door: What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went to Hollywood criticized "Joel Schumacher's cockamamy screenplay," and called "Believe in Yourself" the score's weakest song. He described Diana Ross's portrayal of Dorothy as: "cold, neurotic and oddly unattractive"; and noted that the film was "a critical and box office bust." In his work History of the American Cinema, Harpole characterized the film as "one of the decade's biggest failures," and, "the year's biggest musical flop." The Grove Book of Hollywood noted that "the picture finished off Diana Ross's screen career," as the film was Ross's final theatrical feature. In his book Blockbuster, Tom Shone referred to The Wiz as "expensive crud." In the book Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood, the author criticized the script, noting, "The Wiz was too scary for children, and too silly for adults." Ray BolgerRay Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
, who played the Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
in the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film, did not think highly of The Wiz, stating, "The Wiz is overblown and will never have the universal appeal [the 1939 film] has obtained."
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's performance as the Scarecrow was one of the only positively reviewed elements of the film, with critics noting that Jackson possessed "genuine acting talent" and "provided the only genuinely memorable moments." Of the results of the film, Jackson stated: "I don't think it could have been any better, I really don't." In 1980, Jackson stated that his time working on The Wiz was "my greatest experience so far . . . I'll never forget that." The film received a positive critique for its elaborate set design, and the book American Jewish Filmmakers noted that it "features some of the most imaginative adaptations of New York locales since the glory days of the Astaire-Rogers films." In a 2004 review of the film, Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
wrote positively of Ted Ross and Richard Pryor's performances. However, Null's overall review of the film was critical, and he wrote that other than the song "Ease on Down the Road," "the rest is an acid trip of bad dancing, garish sets, and a Joel Schumacher-scripted mess that runs 135 agonizing minutes." A 2005 piece by Hank Stuever in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
described the film as "a rather appreciable delight, even when it's a mess," and felt that the singing - especially Diana Ross' - was "a marvel".
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
analyzed the film within a discussion of the genre of blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
: "As the audience for blaxploitation dwindled, it seemed as if "Car Wash" and "The Wiz" might be the last gasp of what had been a steadily expanding black presence in mainstream filmmaking." The St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
noted, "Of course, it only took one flop like The Wiz (1978) to give Hollywood an excuse to retreat to safer (i.e., whiter) creative ground until John Singleton and Spike Lee came along. Yet, without blaxploitation there might not have been another generation of black filmmakers, no Denzel Washington or Angela Bassett, or they might have taken longer to emerge." The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
commented, "the term 'black film' should be struck from the critical vocabulary. To appreciate just how outmoded, deceptive and limiting it is, consider the following, all of which have been described as black films, . . ." and characterized The Wiz in a list which also featured 1970s films Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
, Blacula
Blacula
Blacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
, and Super Fly.
The Wiz was nominated for four Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...
, Philip Rosenberg
Philip Rosenberg
Philip Rosenberg is an American production designer and art director. He has won an Academy Award and was nominated for another in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
, Edward Stewart
Edward Stewart (set decorator)
Edward Stewart was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for another in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Stewart won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and was nominated for another:Won...
, Robert Drumheller
Robert Drumheller
Robert Drumheller was an American set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film The Wiz.-External links:...
), Best Costume Design
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
, Best Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, although it did not win in any of those categories.
See also
- The Wiz (Broadway musical)The WizThe Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
- The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
— other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Wicked (musical)Wicked (musical)Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...